Read More

Cllr Robin Millar, Suffolk county councillor and Forest Heath District Council cabinet member for families and communities, said: “Our main aim is to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. Newmarket, like many parts of the country has seen an increase in homelessness in recent years."

Cllr Millar said West Suffolk’s housing team had assessed 141 homeless applications in the last six months, of which 100 were accepted as homeless.

“The numbers of rough sleepers that we see on our streets are the tip of the iceberg. Some of this homelessness isn’t always visible with people sleeping in cars or on friends' sofas while they try to get back on their feet,” he said.

Cllr Sara Mildmay-White, West Suffolk councils’ cabinet member for housing, said: “We work with a host of partners including social services, mental health providers, drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, the NHS and the voluntary sector as this is not an issue that we can fix in isolation.

Read More

“We try to address the underlying causes in people’s circumstances and behaviour that may lead to them becoming homeless and possibly sleeping out on the streets.”

Cllr Mildmay-White said the council was already looking ahead to winter and the need for emergency accommodation.

“We need landlords to help us to provide accommodation for families,” she said.

She added: “We recognise that homelessness is a growing problem and needs more resource which is why we are adding more staff to our housing team so that we can do even more to prevent and deal with homelessness.

“We now employ a rough sleepers prevention and support worker to try to identify and work with people living on the streets and encourage them to engage with the help that is available."

She said residents should report instances of rough sleeping via www.streetlink.org.uk.